The objective of using an item on water such as a surfboard is to stand on a surfboard while it travels across the face of a breaking wave. However if insufficient speed can be achieved by the surfboard across the body of water or wave then in many instances the selected wave may travel faster than the board and can therefore not be “caught”. Furthermore, a lack of speed can mean that certain manoeuvres cannot be successfully achieved. The lack of speed and manoeuvrability can therefore significantly limit the use of the item. Although devices are known to have been used in the past the same typically tend to be externally placed devices (such as fins). However fins tend to generate large amounts of drag which has the effect of slowing the craft. For example, a hydrofoil suffers from the problem that it is not until the speed through the water is quite high that the drag it creates drops away.
The aim of the present invention is therefore to provide apparatus which can add additional thrust when the item is moving in the body of water which can for example be arranged in the direction of travel and thus increase the speed of the surfboard. A further aim is that by increasing the speed of the board, more complex manoeuvres such as jumps and turns can be achieved and, in turn, make it easier to surf fast breaking waves which, otherwise, would be very difficult to surf along. It should also be noted that while the addition of speed is one of the significant benefits of the apparatus of the invention The aims of the use of the apparatus is not limited to adding speed to a surfboard and any floating craft which operates in water waves can benefit from this additional thrust, for example ocean going ships, sailing yachts and small boats.